An Unfinished Life is the first major, single-volume life of John F. Kennedy to be written by a historian in nearly four decades. Drawing upon previously unavailable material and never-before-opened archives to tell Kennedy's story, we learn for the first time just how sick Kennedy was, what medications he took and concealed from all but a few, and how severely his medical condition affected his actions as President. We also learn the real story of how Bobby was selected as Attorney General. Dallek reveals exactly what Jack's father did to help his election to the presidency, and he follows previously unknown evidence to show what path JFK would have taken in the Vietnam entanglement had he survived. Chat with Robert Dallek about his book.

Robert Dallek is the author of six books, including the acclaimed two-volume of Lyndon Johnson, Lone Star Rising and Flawed Giant.

St. Simons Island, Ga:
Hey Robert! I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, but it looks interesting. My question is this: As a researcher and avid reader of anything First Ladies, did Jackie ever find out about JFK's affairs, especially the one with the intern? Where was Jackie when all this happened? Thank you!

Robert Dallek:
She did have some understanding of his philandering. I don't know that she knew specifically about the affair with the intern, but she did know he was a philanderer.Comment from Robert Dallek:
And she wasn't happy about it.New York, NY:
While one may never really know what someone might have done, did Kennedy leave behind any ideas or plans for the rest of his first term or for a theoretical second term?

Robert Dallek:
Absolutely. I have a substantial article in the Atlantic Monthly in which I talk about what his second term would have looked like. He would have run again, and he would have beaten Barry Goldwater by a substantial margin as Johnson did. He would have had large majorities in both houses of Congress, and as a consequence would have passed all the major reform initiatives on his agenda, including Medicare, federal aid to education, the tax cut, what became the 1964 Civil Rights Bill, the war on poverty, he would have established teh Departments of Transportation and HUD. On the foreign policy side, there is compelling evidence he would have pursued a rapprochement with Cuba, and that he would have tried to get the U.S. out of Vietnam, but he would have resisted the Americanization of the Vietnam War. He certainly wouldn't have done what Johnson did.Uppsala, Sweden:
How close was President Kennedy to his youngest brother, Ted? Thanks.

Robert Dallek:
Not very. They were brothers, of course, and JFK was instrumental in helping Ted win his first election in 1962 to the Senate. JFK saw this as a valuable development for control of Congress, but they were so far apart in age. There was a 15 year gap.Aberystwyth Wales:
What branches of the military did he consult before sending troops to the Bay of Pigs, and why was he so focused on foreign issues and not domestic ones?

Robert Dallek:
Before agreeing to the Bay of Pigs, he had discussions with the Chiefs and the CIA, as well as with other people who had been high in the government in the past, like former secretary of state Dean Acheson. He also discussed this with leading members of Congress.

He was in fact a foreign policy president. This was what had interested him from early in his schooling. While at Harvard he traveled to Europe many times, and his father had been ambassador to Britain. JFK wrote a senior honors thesis called Why England Slept. He really saw foreign policy in the 1960s as crucial to the wellbeing of the US. He was interested in resolving civil rights tensions that existed at the time in the US, he was eager to put a medical insurance program in place for the elderly. He was eager to provide federal aid to education. He was even for an 11 billion dollar tax cut to expand the economy. But he was faced with a conservative congress that was unreceptive to these major reforms.Denver, CO:
Do you have an opinion of how long Kennedy might have lived with his physical problems, had he not been assassinated?

Robert Dallek:
I'm no physician and nobody, not even the most astute medical expert, can give you an authoritative opinion. I have, however, talked to physicians, and it's conceivable Kennedy wouldn't have outlived his 50s.Uppsala, Sweden:
To which degree is President Kennedy´s private life (i.e. his mistresses) relevant when his presidency is discussed?

Robert Dallek:
I address this in my book. I wanted to see whether either his medical problems or womanizing in any way undermined his performance as president, and my conclusion is I didn't see any significant impact on his conduct of public affairs from either.Cleveland Ohio:
The word ruthless is often associated with RFK; could the same "decisiveness" be considered a Kennedy trait that JFK charisma camouflaged?

Robert Dallek:
Ruthless is a very perjorative term, and politicians are politicians. They operate to win elections, put across policies they believe in that will serve their interests and those of the country. Opponents may see their behavior as over the top. RFK and JFK were very effective politicians who were willing to play hardball as their opponents were too. I don't know that one can see them as significantly different from LBJ or the current George W. Bush administration.Ocala, Fl:
Did any members of the Kennedy family try to stop you from writing this book?

Robert Dallek:
Emphatically not. In gaining access to the Kennedy medical records, I was under no preconditions as to how I used them. I was the first to get into them and was free to use the records as I saw fit.Springfield, MO:
Doris Kearns Goodwin spoke of FDR as a "protean" president...able to adjust to changing times -- would you describe JFK in such a way?

Robert Dallek:
Kennedy was a very good politician and a man with a very strong sense of reality. He was a tough minded realist. He faced the troubles with Cuba, civil rights, Congress, Kruschev, etc. by maneuvering to deal with these problems. He wasn't entirely successful, but he was a clear-eyed realist.Atlanta, Georgia:
Mr. Dallek
What are thoughts on how JFK would be viewed by the public if still alive in light of all the revelations about his extra-marital affairs. Do you think they would judge him as they have Clinton ?

Robert Dallek:
I think there'd be a similar impulse. The public isn't happy about the philandering of Clinton, nor would they be happy to think Kennedy was willing to have an affair with a 19 year old. On the other hand, like with Clinton, a majority of the country was opposed to his impeachment and removal from office. I think they would have felt the same way about JFK, because the public seems to separate out the public from the private; that is, this is not like Watergate, where Richard Nixon and the people around him broke the law.Torranc, Ca:
With all the press these days would have the President been able to conceal how sick he was if he was Predident today? Should have he concealed this info from the public??

Robert Dallek:
No, I don't think he would be able to day to conceal his health problems or his womanizing. It's a very changed political atmosphere. It's a changed media world. As far as the coverup on his medical problems, I certainly don't think we'd want to do this again. We are in a democracy entitled to know what the state of a president's health is. On the other hand we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that in 1960, what Kennedy understood was that if his health problems were revealed, he would probably not been elected.Atlanta, Georgia:
Did JFK ever trust the military in light of the advise he got on the Bay of Pigs & the Cuban Missile Crisis

Robert Dallek:
This query can be answered by reading the ATlantic Monthly article. In brief, JFK had a visceral distrust of the American military. It began during WWII when he was in the Navy and was increased by his experience over the Bay of Pigs. It was further deepened by his experience during the Cuban Missile Crisis. There's a wonderful tape at the JFK library in which he said "these fellows in the foreign service have no cojones. Now these fellows in the military have cojones, but they don't have any brains". So he had big doubts about the military.Corinth, MS:
Was Kennedy a Big Nixon hater like Nixon was a big Kennedy hater?

Robert Dallek:
I don't think the word hate for John Kennedy is appropriate. RFK was more inclined to have that intensity of feeling. JFK had his enemies and people he'd be eager to defeat politically, and he did see Nixon as a dangerous fellow. He said at one point after the 1960 election "it's just as well he wasn't elected". He didn't trust him.Amelia Island, Fl:
What do you think JFK would have done job-wise if his older brother hadn't died and his father hadn't pushed the presidency on him?

Robert Dallek:
It's a good question. We don't know for sure, of course. There was some feeling in the family that Joe Jr. was the "annointed politician", the one who would fulfill the father's ambitions. If Joe Jr. had lived (and I have an important revelation about his death in the war), JFK might have become a journalist or author, since he was more intellectual than his older brother. He had written a book already, and in 1945 he was a freelance journalist covering the UN conference in San Francisco, then the Pottsdam conference in Berlin.